OUR REVIEW & RATING ★★★★★

Seven quotes emulate a very dark modern tragedy which are methodical, calculated and shockingly brilliant. The darkness of the story is especially prevalent in the movie quotes, with one of the most telling lines; ‘This isn’t going to have happy ending’, given by Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) whose character is the center mouthpieces of the movie.

[first lines]Detective Taylor: Neighbors heard them screaming at each other, like for two hours, it was nothing new. Then they heard the gun go off, both barrels. Crime of passion.William Somerset: Yeah, just look at all the passion on that wall.

William Somerset: Did the kid see it?Detective Taylor: What?William Somerset: The kid?Detective Taylor: What kind of fucking question is that? You know, we’re all going to be real glad when we get rid of you, Somerset. You know that? It’s always these questions with you. “Did the kid see it?” Who gives a fuck? He’s dead, his wife killed him. Anything else has nothing to do with us.

William Somerset: I meant to ask you something…when we spoke on the phone before.David Mills: Yep.William Somerset: Why here?David Mills: I don’t follow.William Somerset: Why all the effort to get transferred? It’s the first question that
popped into my head.David Mills: I guess the same reasons as you. The same reasons you had before you decided to quit, yeah?[Somerset stops and faces Mills]William Somerset: Y… You just met me.David Mills: Maybe I’m not understanding the question.William Somerset: Very simple. You actually fought to get re-assigned here. I’ve just never seen it done that way before.David Mills: I thought I could do some good. Look it would be great for me if we didn’t
start out kickin’ each other in the balls. But, you’re calling the shots, lieutenantWilliam Somerset: Yes. I want you to look, and I want you to listen, okay?David Mills: Now, I wasn’t standing around guarding the taco-bell. I worked homicide for five years.William Somerset: Not here.David Mills: I understand that.William Somerset: Well, over the next seven days, Detective, you’ll do me the favor of remembering that.

[walking in the rain to the house of the victim]William Somerset: What time was death established?Officer Davis: Like I said, I didn’t touch anything, but he’s had his face in a plate of
spaghetti for about forty five minutes now.David Mills: Wait a minute. No one bothered for vital signs?Officer Davis: Did I stutter? This guy ain’t breathin’ unless he started breathin’ spaghetti sauce.David Mills: So that’s how it’s done around here. Officer Davis: I peg your pardon Detective, but this guy’s been sittin’ in a pile of his own piss and shit. If he wasn’t dead he would have stood up by now.

David Mills: We had this case once. Guy dead on the ground, knife in his back. Gotta be murder right?[looks at all the rotting food on the table] David Mills: Fuck! Anyway, big insurance policy involved yeah. So the guy took the tip of the blade and stuck it in his own shoulder blades. And he must have screwed up a few times cause there was multiples back there.[Somerset is inspecting the back of the head of the dead obese man]William Somerset: Could you please be quite.

[Somerset is driving in the rain]David Mills: You’ve read my files, right? You’ve seen the things I’ve done?William Somerset: Nope.David Mills: Well I did my time on door to doors and walkin’ beat. I did that shit for a
long time.William Somerset: And?David Mills: The badge on my belt says “Detective”. That’s the same as yours.William Somerset: Look I made a decision. I had to consider the integrity of the scene. Couldn’t worry whether you thought you were getting enough time on the playing field. David Mills: Hey man, just don’t jerk me off. That’s all I ask. Don’t jerk me off.

[in the autopsy room where the obese corpse has been dissected Somerset’s looking in, not believing what he sees]William Somerset: This man ate till he burst?Coroner: He didn’t really. Not all the way. He was hemorrhaging internally, and there was a hematoma in the rectus and the transverse abdominals.David Mills: So he did die by eating? Coroner: Yes and no.

David Mills: Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a homicide.

[reading from his notebook to the police captain]William Somerset: Killer put a bucket beneath him, kept on serving. Took his time too. The coroner said this could have gone on for more than twelve hours. Victim’s throat was swollen, probably from the air and there was definitely a point where he passed out. That’s when the killer kicked him and that’s when he burst.David Mills: Ooph. Sadistic fucker, huh.

William Somerset: I’d like to be reassigned. Police Captain: What?David Mills: What?! Woh!Police Captain: What the hell are you talking about?William Somerset: This can’t be my last duty. It’s just going to go on and on and on.Police Captain: You’re retiring, six more days and you’re all the way gone.

[Captain walks into Somerset’s office. Somerset doesn’t look up as he’s typing on the typewriter] Police Captain: Somerset?William Somerset: Come in.Police Captain: Have you heard the news?William Somerset: No, haven’t heard.Police Captain: Eli Gould was found murdered this morning. Someone broke into his law firm and bled him to death. Wrote the word “Greed” on the floor.[Somerset stops typing and turns to look at the Captain]William Somerset: Greed?Police Captain: Yeah, in blood. Mills is heading up the investigation.

Police Captain: I don’t think you’re leaving. You can’t leave all this.William Somerset: Guy is out walking his dog, gets attached. His watch is taken, his
wallet. While he’s lying there on the sidewalk, his attacker stabs him in both eyes. That’s happened just last night, about four blocks from here.Police Captain: Yeah. I read about itWilliam Somerset: I don’t understand this place any longer.[Somerset saddles up to the typewriter] Police Captain: It’s the way it’s always beenWilliam Somerset: Maybe you’re right. Police Captain: You do this work. You were made for and I don’t think you can deny that. Maybe I’m wrong.

[in the library Somerset looks up to see the night guards playing poker]William Somerset: Gentlemen, gentlemen…I’ll never understand. All these books, a world of knowledge at your fingertips, and what do you do? You play poker all night.Library Guard 1: Hey, we’ve got culture! Library Guard 2: Yeah, we’ve got culture comin’ out our asses![the other guards laugh, the Library Guard turns on the hi-fi playing classical music]George, Library Night Guard: How’s this for culture?

William Somerset: This was found on the wall, behind the refrigerator in the obesity murder scene.[hands a note to the Captain to read]Police captain: Long is the way, and hard, that out of hell leads up to the light.William Somerset: It’s from Milton. ‘Paradise Lost’.Police Captain: All right. I’m confused. William Somerset: It means that this is beginning. This was found behind the same refrigerator, written in grease. [hold up photo showing the word ‘Gluttony”]William Somerset: There are seven deadly sins, Captain. Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Pride, Lust and Envy. Seven.Police Captain: Hold on.[answers the phone that’s keeps ringing at the desk he’s sat]Police Captain: This is not even my desk![hangs up the phone]William Somerset: You can expect five more of these.

[trying to read Dante’s book of poetry. Gets angry and throws the book aside] David Mills: Fuckin’ Dante. Goddamn poetry-writing faggott! Piece of shit. Fucker!

[Mills greeting his wife after coming home from work with Somerset]David Mills: Hey, loser.Tracy Mills: Hi, idiot.

William Somerset: I understand you two were high school sweethearts.Tracy Mills: Mm-hmm. Pretty hokey, huh? You know something? I knew on our first date that this was the guy I was going to marry. William Somerset: Really?[nodding her head]Tracy Mills: Mm-hmm. He’s the funnies guy I’ve ever met. [looking at Mills unbelievably]William Somerset: Really. Well, it’s kind of rare now days. I mean that level of commitment.

[Somerset takes off his jacket and notices Tracy noticing his gun]William Somerset: Oh, don’t worry, I won’t wear it to the dinner table.Tracy Mills: I…uh, you know. No matter how often I see guns, I just…I…I can’t get used to them.William Somerset: Same here.

[at the dinner table at Mills home]Tracy Mills: Why aren’t you married, William?David Mills: Oh, Trace!William Somerset: I was close once. It just didn’t happen.Tracy Mills: It surprises me. It really does.William Somerset: Well, anyone who spends a significant amount of time with me finds me disagreeable. Just ask your husband.David Mills: Very true. Very, very true.

[at Mills apartment after finishing their meal low rumbling is heard and everything begins to rattle and clatter]David Mills: The real estate guy…fucking piece of…[to Tracy] David Mills: Sorry, honey. [to Somerset]David Mills: He…he shows us the place, a few times. I think it’s good. He’s efficient. Tracy really likes it. Then I start wandering why will he only bring us here for five minutes at a time, yeah? Tracy Mills: We found out the first night.William Somerset: A soothing, relaxing, vibrating home. [Somerset tries to stay straight, but he can’t help laughing and Tracy join in the laughter]

[Somerset reads from a photocopy of the note found at Eli Gould’s murder scene]William Somerset: “One pound of flesh, no more no less. No cartilage, no bone, but only flesh.” Merchant of Venice.David Mills: Didn’t see it.[reading from the note]William Somerset: This task done, and he would go free.David Mills: Tellin’ you, that chair was soaked through with sweat. William Somerset: Of course. Killer wanted Gould to take his time. To sit and decide which cut to make first. Imagine it, there’s a gun in your face…which part of your body is expendable?

[spreads out the photos of the murder scene]William Somerset: All right, let’s take a fresh look at these. Even though the corpse is there, look through it. Get it out of the initial shock. The trick is to find one item, one details, and focus on it until it’s an exhausted possibility.

William Somerset: He’s preaching. David Mills: Punishing.William Somerset: The sins were used in medieval sermons. There were seven cardinal virtues and seven deadly sins, used as teaching tools.David Mills: Yeah…yeah…yeah. Like in, uh, Parson’s tale, in what’s his, uh, Dante. William Somerset: You read them.David Mills: Yeah. Well, parts. Hey, you remember in, uh, Purgatory, Dante and his buddy they climb up the hill and check out all the sinners, yeah?William Somerset: Yeah. Seven Terraces of Purgation.David Mills: Yeah…yeah, right. Their pride comes first, not gluttony. William Somerset: Yeah, well for now let’s just consider that the books were the killer’s inspiration. Sermons were about atonement for sin. These murders are like forced attrition. David Mills: Forced what?William Somerset: Attrition. It’s when you regret your sins, but not because you love God.David Mills: More like because someone’s sticking a fucking gun in your face.

[discussing Eli Gould’s murder scene]William Somerset: And no witnesses of any kind?David Mills: Which I don’t get. Because the fucker had to get back out. William Somerset: Well in any major city, minding your own business is a science. The first thing they teach women at rape preventions is never cry for “help”. Always yell “fire.” Nobody answers to help. You yell fire and they come running.David Mills: That’s fucked up.

[Somerset and Mills are checking the painting in Eli Gould’s office but can’t find anything]David Mills: He’s fuckin’ with us, that’s what he’s doin’![Mills bends over a desk]David Mills: See this? This is us. Yeah.

[whispering to Somerset]David Mills: Honestly, have you ever seen anything like this? William Somerset: No. Fingerprint Forensic Man: Well I could tell you guys, just by looking at the swirl pattern, they’re not the victim’s prints.[on the wall where the painting once was, there are fingerprints forming the words HELP ME]

William Somerset: It doesn’t fit. He doesn’t want us to help him stop.David Mills: Who knows. So many freaks out there doin’ their little evil deeds they don’t wanna do…”The voices made me do it. My dog made me do it. Jodie Foster told me to do it.”

William Somerset: You meant what you said to Mrs. Gould didn’t you? About catching this guy?David Mills: Yeah.William Somerset: I wish I still thought the way you do. David Mills: Well, why don’t you tell me what the hell you think we’re doin’.William Somerset: Picking up the pieces. We’re collecting all the evidence, taking all the pictures and samples. Writing everything down, noting the time things happened.David Mills: That’s all?William Somerset: That’s all. Putting everything in a neat little pile and filing it away, on the off chance that it will ever be needed in a courtroom. Picking up diamonds on a deserted island, saving them in case we get rescued.David Mills: Bullshit!William Somerset: Even the most promising clues usually only lead to illness. So many corpses role away unrevenged.

[Somerset and Mills are fast asleep on the couch, leaning against each other in the precinct hallway]Police Captain: Wake up, Glimmer Twins. We got a winner.

[Captain is giving an explanation of suspect named Victor, whose fingerprints were found in Eli Gould’ office]David Mills: You’re not buyin’ all this are you?William Somerset: Does not seem like our guy, does it?David Mills: You tell me. William Somerset: Our killer seems to have more purpose.

David Mills: Did you ever take a bullet?[Somerset pulls out his gun, checks the load]William Somerset: Never in my thirty-four years. Knock wood. I’ve only taken my gun out three times with the intention of using it. Never pulled the trigger. Not once. You?David Mills: Yeah, but no…I never…never took a bullet. But I pulled my gun once, shot it once.

[SWAT have broken into Victor’s apartment moving around the rooms they notice someone lying in bed under a blanket]California: Get up you sack of shit. [the other cop pulls the blanket revealing shriveled, sore-covered form of a man tied to the bed]California: Oh, fuck me!

[leans close to Victor thinking he’s dead] California:[whispers] You got what you deserved.[Victor suddenly starts to cough and gag, making everyone jump]California: He’s alive…he’s alive! The fucker’s alive!

William Somerset: He’s playing games.David Mills: Uh…no shit!William Somerset: We have to divorce ourselves from our emotions here. No matter how hard it is we have to remain focused on the details. Okay?David Mills: I’m a man that feeds off my emotions. How’s that?William Somerset: Are you listening to me?!David Mills: Yes, I can hear you.

[reporter tries to take pictures of Mills and Somerset at the crime scene. Mills throws him out of the building]Reporter: I got your picture man.David Mills: Oh yeah?Reporter: I got your picture!David Mills: Oh Yeah? Detective Mills, M-I-L-L-S, fuck off!

[referring to the reporter he just threw out]David Mills: How do they get here so fucking quick?William Somerset: They pay police for the information, and they pay well. David Mills: Hey, man I’m sorry…I just…they piss me off. William Somerset: Okay. It’s impressive to see a man feeding off his emotions.

[at the hospital where Victor lies inside an oxygen tent]Dr. Beardsley: A year of immobility seems about right, judging by the deterioration of the muscles and the spine. Blood tests show a whole smorgasbord of drugs in his system. Even an antibiotic, which must have been administered to keep the bed sores from infecting. David Mills: Now, has he tried to speak or communicate in any way? Dr. Beardsley: Even if his brain were not mush, which it is, he chewed off his own tongue long ago.William Somerset: Uh…Doc, is there absolutely no chance that he might survive?Dr. Beardsley: Detective, he’d die of shock right now if you were to shine a flashlight in his eyes. He’s experienced about as much pain and suffering as anyone I’ve encountered, give or take, and he still has hell to look forward to. Good night.

[Tracy and Mills are having a private meeting in a cafe]William Somerset: Why don’t you tell me what’s really bothering you Tracy.Tracy Mills: David and I are going to have a baby.William Somerset: Oh, Tracy I…I don’ think I’m the…I’m the one to talk to about this.[Tracy begins to cry]Tracy Mills: I hate this city.

William Somerset: I had a relationship once. It was very much like a marriage. We got pregnant. This was long time ago. I remember getting up one morning and going to work, just another day like any other, except it was the first day after I knew about the pregnancy, and I felt this fear, for the first time ever. I remember thinking, how can I bring a child into a world like this? How can…how can a person grow up with all this around them? I told her I didn’t want to have it, and over the next few weeks I wore her down. Tracy Mills: I want to have children.William Somerset: I can tell you now that I’m…I know…I mean…I’m positive that I made the right decision. But there’s not a day that passes that I don’t wish that I made a different choice. If you don’t keep the baby, I mean if that’s your decision, don’t ever tell him that you were pregnant. But if you choose to have this baby then you spoil that kid every chance you get. That’s about all the advice I can give you Tracy.

William Somerset: Victor’s landlord said there was an envelope of cash in the office mailbox on the first of every month.[reading from his notes]William Somerset: Quote, “I never heard a single complaint from the tenant in apartment 306 and nobody ever complained about him. He’s the best tenant I’ve ever had.”David Mills: Yeah, a landlord’s dream. A paralyzed tenant with no tongue.William Somerset: Who pays the rent on time?